Atomic Layer Self Aligned Substrate Processing and Integrated Toolset

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods to process one or more wafers are described. A substrate is exposed to a plurality of process stations to deposit, anneal, treat and optionally etch a film in small increments to provide self-aligned growth of the film on a substrate surface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.16/412,696, filed May 15, 2019, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/672,560, filed May 16, 2018, the entiredisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to apparatus for depositingthin films. In particular, the disclosure relates to apparatus having aplurality of separate processing stations to deposit a self-aligned filmon a substrate.

BACKGROUND

Current atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes have a number ofpotential issues and difficulties. Many ALD chemistries (e.g.,precursors and reactants) are “incompatible”, which means that thechemistries cannot be mixed together. If the incompatible chemistriesmix, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, instead of the ALDprocess could occur. The CVD process generally has less thicknesscontrol than the ALD process and/or can result in the creation of gasphase particles which can cause defects in the resultant device. For atraditional time-domain ALD process in which a single reactive gas isflowed into the processing chamber at a time, a long purge/pump out timeoccurs so that the chemistries are not mixed in the gas phase. A spatialALD chamber can move one or more wafer(s) from one environment to asecond environment faster than a time-domain ALD chamber can pump/purge,resulting in higher throughput.

With electronic device scaling (e.g., <10 nm), it is extremely hard toform self-aligned features. Any misalignment results in shorting,ruining the device performance. Additionally, self-aligned processes,such as silicide, etc. result in lateral growth due to large diffusion.The lateral growth can also result in shorting. Current state of the artself-aligned schemes use multiple processes, such as deposition, anneal,removal, to create self-aligned features.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for improved deposition apparatusand methods of forming self-aligned films with little or no misalignmentof films.

SUMMARY

One or more embodiments of the disclosure are directed to processingtools comprising a plurality of process stations. Each process stationprovides a processing region separated from processing regions ofadjacent process stations. A substrate support has a support surface tosupport a wafer for processing. The substrate support is configured tomove the wafer between at least two of the plurality of processstations. A controller is connected to the substrate support and theplurality of process stations. The controller is configured to activatethe substrate support to move the wafer between stations, and to controla process occurring in each of the process stations. The plurality ofprocess stations comprises a deposition station, an anneal station, anda treatment station.

Additional embodiments of the disclosure are directed to methods fordepositing a film. A substrate is moved to a deposition station todeposit a film on a surface of the substrate. The substrate is moved toan anneal station to anneal the film on the substrate. The substrate ismoved to a treatment station to treat the annealed film with a plasma.Each of the deposition station, anneal station and treatment station arepart of an integrated processing tool with a controller configured tomove the substrate, deposit the film, anneal the film and treat theannealed film.

Further embodiments of the disclosure are directed to methods fordepositing a film. A substrate having a first substrate surface and asecond substrate surface is provided in a deposition station. The firstsubstrate surface comprises a different material than the secondsubstrate surface. A film is deposited on the first substrate surfaceand the second substrate surface in the deposition station. The film hasa thickness less than or equal to about 20 Å. The substrate is movedfrom the deposition station to an anneal station to anneal the film andform an annealed film. The substrate is moved to a treatment station totreat the annealed film with a plasma to form a treated annealed film.The plasma changes at least one property of the film on at least one ofthe first substrate surface or the second substrate surface. Thesubstrate is moved to an etch station to selectively etch the film fromthe second substrate surface relative to the first substrate surface.Depositing the film, annealing the film, treating the film andselectively etching the film are repeated to selectively deposit a filmhaving at thickness greater than or equal to about 1000 Å on the firstsubstrate surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlytypical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1A shows a schematic representation of a processing tool inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 1B through 1H illustrate a deposition process in accordance withone or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 1J illustrates a flowchart of the deposition process illustrated inFIGS. 1B through 1H in accordance with one or more embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a bottom perspective view of a support assembly inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a top perspective view of a support assembly in accordancewith one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a top perspective view of a support assembly in accordancewith one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the support assembly ofFIG. 4 taken along line IV-IV;

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional perspective view of a processing chamberin accordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of a processing chamber inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic representation of a processing platform inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 9A through 9I shows a schematic views of process stations in aprocessing chamber in accordance with one or more embodiment of thedisclosure; and

FIGS. 10A and 10B shows a schematic representation of process inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before describing several exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, it isto be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the details ofconstruction or process steps set forth in the following description.The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced orbeing carried out in various ways.

A “substrate” as used herein, refers to any substrate or materialsurface formed on a substrate upon which film processing is performedduring a fabrication process. For example, a substrate surface on whichprocessing can be performed include materials such as silicon, siliconoxide, strained silicon, silicon on insulator (SOI), carbon dopedsilicon oxides, amorphous silicon, doped silicon, germanium, galliumarsenide, glass, sapphire, and any other materials such as metals, metalnitrides, metal alloys, and other conductive materials, depending on theapplication. Substrates include, without limitation, semiconductorwafers. Substrates may be exposed to a pretreatment process to polish,etch, reduce, oxidize, hydroxylate, anneal and/or bake the substratesurface. In addition to film processing directly on the surface of thesubstrate itself, in the present disclosure, any of the film processingsteps disclosed may also be performed on an under-layer formed on thesubstrate as disclosed in more detail below, and the term “substratesurface” is intended to include such under-layer as the contextindicates. Thus for example, where a film/layer or partial film/layerhas been deposited onto a substrate surface, the exposed surface of thenewly deposited film/layer becomes the substrate surface.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the terms“precursor”, “reactant”, “reactive gas” and the like are usedinterchangeably to refer to any gaseous species that can react with thesubstrate surface, or with a film formed on the substrate surface.

Some embodiments of the disclosure provide integrated toolsets whichallow for the fabrication of self-aligned features based on underlyingsubstrate materials. Some embodiments allow for the growth of differentfilms on different features or surfaces (e.g., metal silicide on metaland SiN on dielectric). In some embodiments, the integrated toolcomprises multiple stations with or without a rotating platform todeposit, anneal, treat the surface and optional removal processes. Thesequence can be repeated to allow for very controlled growth in thefeature without creating lateral growth (encroachment). Embodiments ofthe disclosure can be used with planar substrates, substrates withfeatures (e.g., vias, trenches, fins) and with hardmask/patterningapplications. A planar application might form a metal silicide film on ametal surface and a nitride film on an adjacent dielectric surface. Anapplication using surface features include, but are not limited to,formation of vias over metal/oxide surfaces to that a metal silicideforms on the metal and a nitride forms on the oxide. In an exemplaryhardmask/patterning application in which a metal is on a spacermaterial, a metal silicide can be formed on the bottom and top surfaces.

FIG. 1A illustrates an integrated processing tool 10 for formingself-aligned features. The processing tool 10 has a plurality of processstations 11, 12, 13, 14 with each station providing a processing region11 a, 12 a, 13 a, 14 a separated from adjacent process stations. Theexemplary embodiment illustrated has four stations; however, the skilledartisan will recognize that there can be more or less than fourstations. The individual stations can be separated from adjacentstations by gas curtains or physical barriers.

A substrate support 15 (shown as a dashed line) has a support surface tosupport a substrate or wafer for processing. The substrate support isconfigured to move a wafer between at least two of the plurality ofprocessing stations. In some embodiments, the substrate support isconfigured to move the wafer between all of the process stations. Asused in this manner, the term “between” includes the processing regionsof the individual process stations.

A controller 16 can be connected to the substrate support 15 and theplurality of process stations 11, 12, 13, 14. The controller can beconfigured to activate the substrate support 15 to move the waferbetween stations, and to control a process occurring in each of theprocess stations. In some embodiments, the plurality of process stations11, 12, 13, 14 include, respectively, a deposition station, an annealingstation, a treatment station and an optional etch station.

Referring to FIGS. 1B through 1H, an exemplary process is illustratedwith a planar substrate having two different surface chemistries. FIG.1J illustrates a flowchart of the process 500 illustrated in FIGS. 1Bthrough 1H. At 510, the substrate is provided, or positioned, in anenvironment for processing. For example, the substrate can be positionedin the process station 11 and is therefore provided for processing. Asshown in FIG. 1B, the substrate 21 has a first material 22 with a firstsurface 22 a and a second material 23 with a second surface 23 a that isdifferent than the first material 22 and the first surface 22 a. Theprocess station 11 can include any suitable deposition chamber that canform the film. In some embodiments, the deposition station comprises oneor more of an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber, plasma enhancedatomic layer deposition (PEALD), a chemical vapor deposition (CVD)chamber, or a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) chamber.In some embodiments, the first material 22 comprises a metal (e.g.,cobalt, copper, titanium). In some embodiments, the second material 23comprises a dielectric (e.g., an oxide).

In some embodiments, the process stations may comprise exposure to aportion of a deposition process. In some embodiments, process station 11may expose a substrate to a first reactant and process station 12 mayexpose the substrate to a second reactant to react with the firstreactant and deposit a film. In this regard, two or more stations may beused for a single deposition process.

At 520, in the deposition chamber of process station 11, a film 24 isformed on the substrate 21, as shown in FIG. 1C. The film 24 can beformed conformally so that there is a substantially equal thickness onboth the first material 22 and the second material 23, or can beselective to the first material 22 relative to the second material 23.The degree of selectivity can be in the range of about 1:1 to about 50:1for the first material 22: second material 23.

The film 24 can be formed to any suitable thickness. In someembodiments, the film 24 has a thickness less than or equal to about onemonolayer of the material being deposited. In some embodiments, thethickness of the film 24 is greater than 0.1 Å up to about 10 Å, 15 Å,20 Å, 25 Å, 30 Å, 35 Å or 40 Å. In some embodiments, the film comprisesone or more of silicon, titanium, copper, cobalt, tungsten or aluminum.

After formation of the film 24, the substrate 21 is moved from processstation 11 to process station 12. As shown in FIG. 1D and at 530, thefilm 24 can be exposed to an anneal process in process station 12 toform an annealed film 25. In some embodiments, the anneal stationcomprises one or more of a laser anneal, thermal anneal or flash annealchamber.

After forming the annealed film 25, the substrate 21 is moved fromprocess station 12 to process station 13. As shown in FIG. 1E and at540, the annealed film 25 is treated to form treated film 26. Thetreatment can be any suitable treatment depending, for example, the filmcomposition. In some embodiments, the treatment comprises a plasmaprocessing chamber. The plasma changes at least one property of theannealed film 25. In some embodiments, the treatment changes a propertyof the annealed film 25 on the first surface 22 a differently than onthe second surface 23 a so that there are differences between thetreated film 26 a and treated film 26 b.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1F, the treatment removes theannealed film from the second surface 23 a. In these embodiments, thesubstrate 21 may be processed without an etch process (described below).In an embodiment of this sort, the process can repeat by moving thesubstrate back to the process station 11.

In some embodiments, the processing tool 10 includes an etch station asprocess station 14. In an embodiment like that of FIG. 1E in which theproperties of the film are different on the first surface 22 a than onthe second surface 23 a, the substrate 21 can be moved from the processstation 13 to process station 14. As shown in FIG. 1G and at 550, insome embodiments, the substrate 21 is exposed to an etch process whichcan selectively remove the treated film 26 b from the second surface 23a relative to the treated film 26 a from the first surface 22 a. Asillustrated in FIG. 1G, the thickness of the treated film 26 a may bereduced as part of the etch process, while the treated film 26 b issubstantially completely removed (>95% by weight).

The etch station can be any suitable etch chamber that can selectivelyremove the film 26 b from the second surface 23 a relative to the film26 a from the first surface 22 a. In some embodiments, the etch stationcomprises one or more of a chemical etch, a reactive ion etch or anisotropic etch chamber.

At 560, it is determined whether a predetermined thickness of film 26 ahas been formed. If not, the process 500 returns to 520 to deposit film24 on the substrate. If a predetermined thickness has been formed, asshown in FIG. 1H, the process 500 continues to 570 for optional furtherprocessing.

In some embodiments, the thickness of the film 26 a is measured throughan inline or external process. In some embodiments, the thickness of thefilm 26 a is measured in situ. In some embodiments, the thickness of thefilm 26 a is determined by measuring one or more of vertical thickness,critical dimension (CD), spacer width and/or spacer height. In someembodiments, the predetermined thickness of film 26 a is formed througha number of repeated cycles.

In some embodiments, the deposition, anneal, treatment and optional etchprocesses can be repeated to form a film 26 a of a predeterminedthickness, as shown in FIG. 1H. The predetermined thickness of someembodiments is greater than or equal to about 100 Å, 200 Å, 300 Å, 400Å, 500 Å, 600 Å, 700 Å, 800 Å, 900 Å or 1000 Å.

In some embodiments, the controller 16 includes a central processingunit, a memory, and support circuits. The controller 16 may control theprocess stations or processing chambers directly, or via computers (orcontrollers) associated with particular process chamber and/or supportsystem components. The controller 16 may be one of any form ofgeneral-purpose computer processor that can be used in an industrialsetting for controlling various chambers and sub-processors. The memoryor computer readable medium of the controller may be one or more ofreadily available memory such as random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), floppy disk, hard disk, optical storage media (e.g.,compact disc or digital video disc), flash drive, or any other form ofdigital storage, local or remote. The support circuits are coupled tothe CPU for supporting the processor in a conventional manner. Thesecircuits include cache, power supplies, clock circuits, input/outputcircuitry and subsystems, and the like. One or more processes may bestored in the memory as software routine that may be executed or invokedto control the operation of the apparatus or individual components inthe manner described herein. The controller 16 can include one or moreconfigurations which can include any commands or functions to controlflow rates, gas valves, gas sources or other processes for performingthe various configurations. The various configurations of the controllercan allow control of the process stations and movements of the substratesupport through one or more motors, actuators, valves, flow controllersand/or heaters to enable the controller to execute the configuration.

In some embodiments, the controller 16 has one or more configurations tooperate the processing tool 10 including process stations 11, 12, 13, 14and substrate support 15. In some embodiments, the controller comprisesone or more of: a first configuration to move a wafer sequentially fromthe deposition chamber to the anneal chamber to the treatment chamber; asecond configuration to deposit a layer on a substrate in the depositionchamber; a third configuration to anneal a layer on the substrate in theanneal chamber; and a fourth configuration to plasma treat the annealedlayer in the treatment chamber. In some embodiments, the processstations include an etch station and the first configuration moves awafer sequentially from the deposition chamber to the anneal chamber tothe treatment chamber to the etch chamber, and the controller has afifth configuration to perform an etch process on a wafer in the etchchamber.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to deposit a film inthe deposition chamber to a thickness (e.g., less than or equal to about15 Å), move the substrate to the anneal chamber to anneal the film, movethe substrate to the treatment chamber to expose the film to plasma, andmove the substrate to the etch chamber to selectively etch the film fromsome portions of the substrate.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to repeat deposition,anneal, treatment and etch processes to build a film of a predeterminedthickness.

One or more embodiments of the disclosure use spatial separation betweentwo or more processing environments. Some embodiments advantageouslyprovide apparatus and methods to maintain separation of incompatiblegases. Some embodiments advantageously provide apparatus and methodsincluding optimizable plasma processing. Some embodiments advantageouslyprovide apparatus and methods that allow for a differentiated thermaldosing environment, a differentiated plasma treatment environment andother environments.

One or more embodiments of the disclosure are directed to processingchambers having four processing environments. Some embodiments have morethan four and some embodiments have less than four. The processingenvironments can be mounted coplanar to the wafer(s) that are moving ina horizontal plane. The process environments are placed in a circulararrangement. A rotatable structure with one to four (or more) individualwafer heaters mounted thereon moves the wafers in a circular path with adiameter similar to the process environments. Each heater may betemperature controlled and may have one or multiple concentric zones.For wafer loading, the rotatable structure could be lowered so that avacuum robot could pick finished wafers and place unprocessed wafers onpins located above each wafer heater (in the lower Z position). Inoperation, each wafer can be under an independent environment until theprocess is finished, then rotatable structure can rotate to move thewafers on the heaters to the next environment (90° rotation for fourstations, 120° rotation if three stations) for processing.

Some embodiments of the disclosure advantageously provide spatialseparation for ALD with incompatible gases. Some embodiments allow forhigher throughput and tool resource utilization than a traditionaltime-domain or spatial process chamber. Each process environment canoperate at a different pressure. The heater rotation has Z directionmotion so each heater can be sealed into a chamber.

Some embodiments advantageously provide plasma environments that caninclude one or more of microwave, ICP, parallel plate CCP or 3 electrodeCCP. The entire wafer can be immersed in plasma; eliminating the plasmadamage from non-uniform plasma across the wafer.

In some embodiments, a small gap between the showerhead and the wafercan be used to increase dose gas utilization and cycle time speed.Precise showerhead temperature control and high operating range (up to230° C.). Without being bound by theory, it is believed that the closerthe showerhead temperature is to the wafer temperature, the better thewafer temperature uniformity.

The showerheads can include small gas holes (<200 μm), a high number ofgas holes (many thousands to greater than 10 million) and recursivelyfed gas distribution inside the showerhead using small distributionvolume to increase speed. The small size and high number gas holes canbe created by laser drilling or dry etching. When a wafer is close tothe showerhead, there is turbulence experienced from the gas goingthrough the vertical holes towards the wafer. Some embodiments allow fora slower velocity gas through the showerhead using a large number ofholes spaced close together achieving a uniform distribution to thewafer surface.

Some embodiments are directed to integrated processing platforms using aplurality of chambers on a single tool. The processing platform can havea variety of chambers that can perform different processes.

Some embodiments of the disclosure are directed to apparatus and methodsto move wafer(s) attached to a wafer heater(s) from one environment toanother environment. The rapid movement can be enabled byelectrostatically chucking (or clamping) the wafer(s) to the heater(s).The movement of the wafers can be in linear or circular motion.

Some embodiments of the disclosure are directed to methods of processingone or more substrates. Examples include, but are not limited to,running one wafer on one heater to a plurality of different sequentialenvironments spatially separated; running two wafers on two waferheaters to three environments (two environments the same and onedifferent environment between the two similar environments); wafer onesees environment A then B, and repeats, while wafer two sees B then Aand repeats; one environment remaining idle (without wafer); running twowafers in two first environments and two second environments where bothwafers see the same environments at the same time (i.e., both wafers inA then both go to B); four wafers with two A and two B environments; andtwo wafers processing in A's while the other two wafers are processingin B's. In some embodiments, wafers are exposed to environment A andenvironment B repeatedly, and then exposed to a third environmentlocated in the same chamber.

In some embodiments, wafers go through a plurality of chambers forprocessing where at least one of the chambers does sequential processingwith a plurality of spatially separated environments within the samechamber.

Some embodiments are directed to apparatus with spatially separatedprocessing environments within the same chamber where the environmentsare at significantly different pressures (e.g., one at <100 mT anotherat >3T). In some embodiments, the heater rotation robot moves in thez-axis to seal each wafer/heater into the spatially separatedenvironments.

Some embodiments include a structure built above the chamber with avertical structural member applying a force upward to the center of thechamber lid to eliminate deflection caused by the pressure of atmosphereon the topside and the vacuum on the other side. The magnitude of forceof the structure above can be mechanically adjusted based on thedeflection of the top plate. The force adjustment can be doneautomatically using a feedback circuit and force transducer or manuallyusing, for example, a screw that can be turned by an operator.

FIGS. 2 through 6 illustrate support assemblies 100 in accordance withone or more embodiments of the disclosure. The support assembly 100includes a rotatable center base 110. The rotatable center base 110 canhave a symmetrical or asymmetrical shape and defines a rotational axis111. The rotational axis 111, as can be seen in FIG. 5, extends in afirst direction. The first direction may be referred to as the verticaldirection; however, it will be understood that the use of the term“vertical” in this manner is not limited to a direction normal to thepull of gravity.

The support assembly 100 includes at least two support arms 120connected to and extending from the center base 110. The support arms120 have an inner end 121 and an outer end 122. The inner end 121 is incontact with the center base 110 so that when the center base 110rotates around the rotational axis 111, the support arms 120 rotate aswell. The support arms 120 can be connected to the center base 110 atthe inner end 121 by fasteners (e.g., bolts) or by being integrallyformed with the center base 110.

In some embodiments, the support arms 120 extend orthogonal to therotational axis 111 so that one of the inner ends 121 or outer ends 122are further from the rotational axis 111 than the other of the innerends 121 and outer ends 122 on the same support arm 120. In someembodiments, the inner end 121 of the support arm 120 is closer to therotational axis 111 than the outer end 122 of the same support arm 120.

The number of support arms 120 in the support assembly 100 can vary. Insome embodiments, there are at least two support arms 120. In someembodiments, there are three support arms 120. In some embodiments,there are four support arms 120. In some embodiments, there are fivesupport arms 120. In some embodiments, there are six support arms 120.

The support arms 120 can be arranged symmetrically around the centerbase 110. For example, in a support assembly 100 with four support arms120, each of the support arms 120 are positioned at 90° intervals aroundthe center base 110. In a support assembly 100 with three support arms120, the support arms 120 are positioned at 120° intervals around thecenter base 110.

A heater 130 is positioned at the outer end 122 of the support arms 120.In some embodiments, each support arm 120 has a heater 130. The centerof the heaters 130 are located at a distance from the rotational axis111 so that upon rotation of the center base 110 the heaters 130 move ina circular path.

The heaters 130 have a support surface 131 which can support a wafer. Insome embodiments, the heater 130 support surfaces 131 are substantiallycoplanar. As used in this manner, the term “substantially coplanar”means that the planes formed by the individual support surfaces 131 arewithin ±5°, ±4°, ±3°, ±2° or ±1° of the planes formed by the othersupport surfaces 131.

In some embodiments, the heaters 130 are positioned directly on theouter end 122 of the support arms 120. In some embodiments, asillustrated in the drawings, the heaters 130 are elevated above theouter end 122 of the support arms 120 by a heater standoff 134. Theheater standoffs 134 can be any size and length to increase the heightof the heaters 130.

In some embodiments, a channel 136 is formed in one or more of thecenter base 110, the support arms 120 and/or the heater standoffs 134.The channel 136 can be used to route electrical connections or toprovide a gas flow.

The heaters can be any suitable type of heater known to the skilledartisan. In some embodiments, the heater is a resistive heater with oneor more heating elements within a heater body.

The heaters 130 of some embodiments include additional components. Forexample, the heaters may comprise an electrostatic chuck. Theelectrostatic chuck can include various wires and electrodes so that awafer positioned on the heater support surface 131 can be held in placewhile the heater is moved. This allows a wafer to be chucked onto aheater at the beginning of a process and remain in that same position onthat same heater while moving to different process regions.

The heater 130 and support surface 131 can include one or more gasoutlets to provide a flow of backside gas. This may assist in theremoval of the wafer from the support surface 131. As shown in FIGS. 2and 3, the support surface 131 includes a plurality of openings 137 anda gas channel 138. The openings 137 and/or gas channel 138 can be influid communication with one or more of a vacuum source or a gas source(e.g., a purge gas).

Some embodiments of the support assembly 100 include a sealing platform140. The sealing platform has a top surface 141, a bottom surface and athickness. The sealing platform 140 can be positioned around the heaters130 to help provide a seal or barrier to minimize gas flowing to aregion below the support assembly 100. In some embodiments, as shown inFIG. 3, the sealing platforms 140 are ring shaped and are positionedaround each heater 130. In the illustrated embodiment, the sealingplatforms 140 are located below the heater 130 so that the top surface141 of the sealing platform 140 is below the support surface 131 of theheater. In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sealingplatform 140 is a single component that surrounds all of the heaters 130with a plurality of openings 142 to allow access to the support surface131 of the heaters 130. The openings 142 can allow the heaters to passthrough the sealing platform 140. In some embodiments, the sealingplatform 140 is fixed so that the sealing platform 140 moves verticallyand rotates with the heaters 130. In some embodiments, the sealingplatform 140 has a top surface 141 forming a major plane that issubstantially parallel with a major plane formed by the support surface131 of the heater 130, as shown in FIG. 5. In some embodiments, thesealing platform 140 has a top surface 141 forming a major plane that isa distance above the major plane of the support surface 131 by an amountsubstantially equal to the thickness of a wafer to be processed so thatthe wafer surface is coplanar with the top surface 141 of the sealingplatform 140, as shown in FIG. 4.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sealing platform 140is supported by support post 127. The support post 127 may have utilityin preventing sagging of the center of the sealing platform 140 when asingle component platform is used.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the support assembly 100includes at least one motor 150. The at least one motor 150 is connectedto the center base 110 and is configured to rotate the support assembly100 around the rotational axis 111. In some embodiments, the at leastone motor is configured to move the center base 110 in a direction alongthe rotational axis 111. For example, in FIG. 7, motor 155 is connectedto motor 150 and can move the support assembly 100 in the Z-axis orvertically.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, one or more embodiments of the disclosureare directed to processing chambers 200 that incorporate the supportassembly 100. The processing chamber 200 has a housing 202 with walls204, a bottom 206 and a top 208 which define an interior volume 209. Theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 does not show the top 208.

The processing chamber 200 includes a plurality of process stations 210.The process stations 210 are located in the interior volume 209 of thehousing 202 and are positioned in a circular arrangement around therotational axis 111. Each process station 210 comprises a gas injector212 having a front face 214. In some embodiments, the front faces 214 ofeach of the gas injectors 212 are substantially coplanar.

The process stations 210 can be configured to perform any suitableprocess and provide any suitable process conditions. The type of gasinjector 212 used will depend on, for example, the type of process beingperformed and the type of process chamber. For example, a processstation 210 configured to operate as an atomic layer depositionapparatus may have a showerhead or vortex type injector. Whereas, aprocess station 210 configured to operate as a plasma station may haveone or more electrode and grounded plate configuration to generate aplasma while allowing a plasma gas to flow toward the wafer. Theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 has a different type of process station210 on the left side of the drawing than on the right side of thedrawing. Suitable process stations 210 include, but are not limited to,thermal processing stations, microwave plasma, three-electrode CCP, ICP,parallel plate CCP, UV exposure, laser processing, pumping chambers,annealing stations and metrology stations.

As shown in FIG. 7, one or more vacuum streams and purge gas streams canbe used to help isolate one process station 210 from an adjacent processstation 210. A purge gas plenum 260 is in fluid communication with apurge gas port 261 at the outer boundary of the process stations 210. Avacuum plenum 265 is in fluid communication with a vacuum port 266. Thepurge gas port 261 and the vacuum port 266 can extend around theperimeter of the process station 210 to form a gas curtain. The gascurtain can help minimize or eliminate leakage of process gases into theinterior volume 209.

The number of process stations 210 can vary with the number of heaters130 and support arms 120. In some embodiments, there are an equal numberof heaters 130, support arms 120 and process stations 210. In someembodiments, the heaters 130, support arms 120 and process stations 210are configured to that each of the support surfaces 131 of the heaters130 can be located adjacent the front faces 214 of different processstations 210 at the same time. Stated differently, each of the heatersis positioned in front of a process station at the same time.

FIG. 8 shows a processing platform 300 in accordance with one or moreembodiment of the disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 8 is merelyrepresentative of one possible configuration and should not be taken aslimiting the scope of the disclosure. For example, in some embodiments,the processing platform 300 has different numbers of process chambers200, buffer stations 320 and robot 330 configurations.

The exemplary processing platform 300 includes a central transferstation 310 which has a plurality of sides 311, 312, 313, 314. Thetransfer station 310 shown has a first side 311, a second side 312, athird side 313 and a fourth side 314. Although four sides are shown,those skilled in the art will understand that there can be any suitablenumber of sides to the transfer station 310 depending on, for example,the overall configuration of the processing platform 300.

The transfer station 310 has a robot 330 positioned therein. The robot330 can be any suitable robot capable of moving a wafer duringprocessing. In some embodiments, the robot 330 has a first arm 331 and asecond arm 332. The first arm 331 and second arm 332 can be movedindependently of the other arm. The first arm 331 and second arm 332 canmove in the x-y plane and/or along the z-axis. In some embodiments, therobot 330 includes a third arm or a fourth arm (not shown). Each of thearms can move independently of other arms.

The embodiment illustrated includes six processing chamber 200 with twoeach connected to the second side 312, third side 313 and fourth side314 of the central transfer station 310. Each of the processing chambers200 can be configured to perform different processes.

The processing platform 300 can also include one or more buffer station320 connected to the first side 311 of the central transfer station 310.The buffer stations 320 can perform the same or different functions. Forexample, the buffer stations may hold a cassette of wafers which areprocessed and returned to the original cassette, or one of the bufferstations may hold unprocessed wafers which are moved to the other bufferstation after processing. In some embodiments, one or more of the bufferstations are configured to pre-treat, pre-heat or clean the wafersbefore and/or after processing.

The processing platform 300 may also include one or more slit valves 318between the central transfer station 310 and any of the processingchambers 200. The slit valves 318 can open and close to isolate theenvironment within the processing chamber 200 from the environmentwithin the central transfer station 310. For example, if the processingchamber will generate plasma during processing, it may be helpful toclose the slit valve for that processing chamber to prevent stray plasmafrom damaging the robot in the transfer station.

The processing platform 300 can be connected to a factory interface 350to allow wafers or cassettes of wafers to be loaded into the processingplatform 300. A robot 355 within the factory interface 350 can be usedto move the wafers or cassettes into and out of the buffer stations. Thewafers or cassettes can be moved within the processing platform 300 bythe robot 330 in the central transfer station 310. In some embodiments,the factory interface 350 is a transfer station of another cluster tool(i.e., another multiple chamber processing platform).

A controller 395 may be provided and coupled to various components ofthe processing platform 300 to control the operation thereof. Thecontroller 395 can be a single controller that controls the entireprocessing platform 300, or multiple controllers that control individualportions of the processing platform 300. For example, the processingplatform 300 may include separate controllers for each of the individualprocessing chambers 200, central transfer station 310, factory interface350 and robots 330. In some embodiments, the controller 395 includes acentral processing unit (CPU) 396, a memory 397, and support circuits398. The controller 395 may control the processing platform 300directly, or via computers (or controllers) associated with particularprocess chamber and/or support system components. The controller 395 maybe one of any form of general-purpose computer processor that can beused in an industrial setting for controlling various chambers andsub-processors. The memory 397 or computer readable medium of thecontroller 395 may be one or more of readily available memory such asrandom access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), floppy disk, harddisk, optical storage media (e.g., compact disc or digital video disc),flash drive, or any other form of digital storage, local or remote. Thesupport circuits 398 are coupled to the CPU 396 for supporting theprocessor in a conventional manner. These circuits include cache, powersupplies, clock circuits, input/output circuitry and subsystems, and thelike. One or more processes may be stored in the memory 398 as softwareroutine that may be executed or invoked to control the operation of theprocessing platform 300 or individual processing chambers in the mannerdescribed herein. The software routine may also be stored and/orexecuted by a second CPU (not shown) that is remotely located from thehardware being controlled by the CPU 396.

FIGS. 9A through 9I illustrate various configurations of processingchambers 200 with different process stations 210. The lettered circlesrepresent the different process stations 210 and process conditions. Forexample, in FIG. 9A, there are four process stations 210 each with adifferent letter. This represents four process stations 210 with eachstation having different conditions than the other stations. Asindicated by the arrow, a process could occur by moving the heaters withwafers from stations A through D. After exposure to D, the cycle cancontinue or reverse.

In FIG. 9B, four wafers can be processed at the same time with thewafers being moved on the heaters back and forth between the A and Bpositions. Two wafers could start in the A positions and two wafers inthe B positions. The independent process stations 210 allow for the twoof the stations to be turned off during the first cycle so that eachwafer starts with an A exposure.

The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9B might also be useful in processingtwo wafers in the four process stations 210. This might be particularlyuseful if one of the processes is at a very different pressure or the Aand B process times are very different.

In FIG. 9C, three wafers might be processed in a single processingchamber 200 in and ABC process. One station can either be turned off orperform a different function (e.g., pre-heating).

In FIG. 9D, two wafers can be processed in an AB-Treat process. Forexample, wafers might be placed on the B heaters only. A quarter turnclockwise will place one wafer in the A station and the second wafer inthe T station. Turning back will move both wafers to the B stations andanother quarter turn counter-clockwise will place the second wafer inthe A station and the first wafer in the B station.

In FIG. 9E, up to four wafers can be processed at the same time. Forexample, if the A station is configured to perform a CVD or ALD process,four wafers can be processed simultaneously.

FIGS. 9F through 9I show similar types of configurations for aprocessing chamber 200 with three process stations 210. Briefly, in FIG.9F, a single wafer (or more than one) can be subjected to an ABCprocess. In FIG. 9G, two wafers can be subjected to an AB process byplacing one in the A position and the other in one of the B positions.The wafers can then be moved back and forth so that the wafer startingin the B position moves to the A position in the first move and thenback to the same B position. In FIG. 9H a wafer can be subjected to anAB-Treat process. In FIG. 9I, three wafers can be processed at the sametime.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate another embodiment of the disclosure. InFIG. 10A, the heater 130 on support arm 120 has been rotated to aposition beneath process station 210 so that wafer 101 is adjacent thegas injector 212. An O-ring 129 on the support arm 120, or on an outerportion of the heater 130, is in a relaxed state. The support arm 120and heater 130 are moved toward the process station 210 so that thesupport surface 131 of the heater 130 is moved to contact or nearlycontact the front face 214 of the process station 210, as shown in FIG.10B. In this position, O-ring 129 is compressed forming a seal aroundthe outer edge of the support arm 120 or outer portion of the heater130. This allows the wafer 101 to be moved as close the injector 212 aspossible to minimize the volume of the reaction region 219 so that thereaction region 219 can be rapidly purged.

Gases which might flow out of the reaction region 219 are evacuatedthrough vacuum port 266 into vacuum plenum 265 and to an exhaust orforeline. A purge gas curtain outside of the vacuum port 266 can begenerated by purge gas plenum 260 and purge gas port 261. Additionally,a purge gas can be flowed through gap 237 between the heater 130 and thesupport arm 120 to further curtain off the reaction region 219 andprevent reactive gases from flowing into the interior volume 209 of theprocessing chamber 200.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “certainembodiments,” “one or more embodiments” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described inconnection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment ofthe disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases such as “in one ormore embodiments,” “in certain embodiments,” “in one embodiment” or “inan embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are notnecessarily referring to the same embodiment of the disclosure.Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

Although the disclosure herein has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and applications of thepresent disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious modifications and variations can be made to the method andapparatus of the present disclosure without departing from the spiritand scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the presentdisclosure include modifications and variations that are within thescope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for depositing a film, the methodcomprising: moving a substrate to a deposition station; depositing afilm on a surface of the substrate in the deposition station; moving thesubstrate to an anneal station; annealing the film on the substrate inthe anneal station; moving the substrate to a treatment station; andtreating the annealed film with a plasma in the treatment station,wherein the substrate is moved on a support arm extending from arotatable center based, and each of the deposition station, annealstation and treatment station are part of an integrated processing toolwith a controller configured to move the substrate, deposit the film,anneal the film and treat the annealed film.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: moving the substrate to an etching station; andetching the treated annealed film to at least partially remove the film,wherein the controller is further configured to etch the treatedannealed film.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the controller isfurther configured to repeat a cycle of depositing the film, annealingthe film, treating the annealed film and etching the treated annealedfilm a plurality of times to selectively form the film on a firstsurface of the substrate relative to a second surface of the substrate.4. The method of claim 3, wherein the film is deposited to a thicknessless than or equal to about 20 Å and the cycle is repeated greater thanor equal to about 20 times.
 5. A method for depositing a film, themethod comprising: providing a substrate having a first substratesurface and a second substrate surface in a deposition station, thefirst substrate surface comprising a different material than the secondsubstrate surface; depositing a film on the first substrate surface andthe second substrate surface in the deposition station, the film havinga thickness less than or equal to about 20 Å; moving the substrate fromthe deposition station to an anneal station; annealing the film to forman annealed film; moving the substrate to a treatment station; treatingthe annealed film with a plasma to form a treated annealed film, theplasma changing at least one property of the film on at least one of thefirst substrate surface or the second substrate surface; moving thesubstrate to an etch station; selectively etching the film from thesecond substrate surface relative to the first substrate surface; andrepeating depositing the film, annealing the film, treating the film,selectively etching the film, and corresponding movements to selectivelydeposit a film having at thickness greater than or equal to about 1000 Åon the first substrate surface.